A. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a guard for restricting access to a rack of goods. The guard is especially suited to prevent unauthorized removal of bottles from a rack.
B. Description of the Prior Art
Pilferage losses can substantially affect the profitability of retail businesses. This is especially true in food and beverage service industries where constant monitoring of employees can be difficult. Unauthorized access or even the threat of such access in a retail establishment can necessitate repeated inventorying of stock to detect and deter losses of inventory, especially losses occurring after business hours when management presence is reduced. In restaurant or bar businesses costly measures are often taken to secure inventories of alcoholic beverages. Often, such businesses secure their inventory sitting in wells at the bar after hours by putting up liquor bottles in a separate location which is securable, e.g., a locked cage. However, there are disadvantages associated with these precautions, e.g., handling costs and associated breakage, as well as a need for increased secured storage space. Accordingly, it would be useful to secure inventory from its site of dispensation, e.g., liquor bottles at the bar.
Various efforts have been made in the past to reduce the opportunity to pilfer inventory. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,139,034 to Williams discloses a food service cart for airplanes with a vertically slidable latching mechanism for its doors which is securable by a padlock. U.S. Pat. No. 5,513,580 to Franks discloses a lockbox or safe which comprises extensions which are expandable or retractable when the box is open which serve to secure the box in a confined space.
In applications where bottles are stored in a floored platform such as a deep well, it would be desirable to provide a means to restrict access to the bottles in the well by a self-contained, stand-alone device which does not require any modification to the well holding the bottles, e.g., by adding attachment points to the sides. In particular, it would be useful to provide a means for restricting access which is secured along the underside of the platform or well. However, such an arrangement requires that the means to restrict access be sufficiently deep to surround both the top and bottom of the well or loaded platform, requiring excessive space to store the device when not in use. Accordingly, it would be useful to provide a guard to restrict access to goods which is extended when used but collapsed for storage and shipping.
In one aspect, the present invention relates to a guard for restricting access to a rack of goods which comprises:
i) an access-restricting cover having an open bottom, a left side to which is substantially vertically mounted a track means, and a right side to which is substantially vertically mounted a track means;
ii) a left extensible member comprising a track means which is lockably engageable with the track means of said left side so as to slide said left extensible member from a retracted storage position to an extended use position;
iii) a right extensible member comprising a track means which is lockably engageable with the track means of said right side so as to slide said right extensible member from a retracted storage position to an extended use position; and
iv) a bottom member having a left end reversibly securable to a lower end of said left extensible member, and a right end reversibly securable to a lower end of said right extensible member.
In another aspect, the present invention relates to a guard for securing a rack of goods which comprises:
a) an access-restricting left vertical side member to which is substantially vertically mounted an engageable track means;
b) an access-restricting right vertical side member to which is substantially vertically mounted an engageable track means;
c) an access-restricting front member at least partially disposed between or upon, and attachable to, said side members;
d) an access-restricting rear member at least partially disposed between or upon, and attachable to, said side members;
e) an access-restricting upper member at least partially disposed between or upon, and attachable to, said side members;
f) a left extensible member comprising a track means which is engageable with the track means of said left vertical side member so as to slide said left extensible member from a retracted storage position to an extended use position, and a left flexible strap affixable to the lower end of said left extensible member;
g) a right extensible member comprising a track means which is engageable with the track means of said right vertical side member so as to slide said right extensible member from a retracted storage position to an extended use position; and a right flexible strap affixable to the lower end of said right extensible member;
h) a bottom member having a left end reversibly securable to said left flexible strap, and a right end reversibly securable to said right flexible strap.
In still another aspect, the present invention relates to a securable bottle storage system which comprises
I) a rack comprising a floor, capable of receiving at least one row of upright standing bottles; and
II) a lockable guard securable over said rack which comprises
a) an access-restricting cover having an open bottom, a left side to which is substantially vertically mounted a track means, and a right side to which is substantially vertically mounted a track means;
b) a left extensible member comprising a track means which is lockably engageable with the track means of said left side so as to slide said left extensible member from a retracted storage position to an extended use position;
c) a right extensible member comprising a track means which to is lockably engageable with the track means of said right side so as to slide said right extensible member from a retracted storage position to an extended use position; and
d) a bottom member having a left end reversibly securable to a lower end of said left extensible member, and a right end reversibly securable to a lower end of said right extensible member, said bottom member locatable beneath said floor of said rack.